


Day Four

by TheGeekySquirrel



Series: September Writing Challenge [4]
Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Catching Up-ish, Gen, Old Friends, Phase Five (Gorillaz), Possessed 2D, i mean not really but like, i want them to be friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 14:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15974207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGeekySquirrel/pseuds/TheGeekySquirrel
Summary: "Haven’t we had enough misery for one day?"





	Day Four

Russel’s day so far had been… not good. Scratch that, it’d been really shitty. Somehow, his daughter-figure-whatever had decided the best course of action this morning was to pack up some of her shit and leave without so much as a note. His closest friend, or, what he  _ thought _ was his closest friend, was acting like a completely different person. He didn’t even  _ know _ where the third one was, and he honestly preferred it that way. 

 

So you could say he was less than pleased when he opened the door to their trailer to find a stranger with mulberry-colored hair and a flannel shirt. You could say he was less pleased when that person took their sunglasses off to reveal that they were a certain guitarist he hadn’t heard from in about two decades. The drummer began to close the door when she stuck a hand out. 

 

“Wait, Russel, I wanna talk.”

 

“Go away, Cracker. You haven’t had a place here in a long time.”

 

Paula stepped closer with a sorry look in her eyes, “I don’t want a place here. I just want to talk. Is that too much to ask?”

 

Russel crossed his arms and glared at her, “Yes. You  _ know _ what you did hurt 2D. Even after all this time, he still ain’t really over you. You can’t talk to him. Go away.”

 

“I don’t want to talk to Stuart. I want to talk to you. It’s about him,” she said hurriedly as the drummer rolled his eyes and began shutting the door. Their former guitarist began yelling as it got closer to the frame, “Haven’t you noticed how weird he’s been acting? I know Stu-Pot, and that’s not him! Even back then, he was  _ never  _ this bad! You know it!”

 

He stopped the door, though he continued to not look her in the eye. Paula got quieter now, not quite whispering to him. 

 

“I’ve learned a little something about possession and all that since I left. Come talk to me, I can help you. I just need to know more.”

 

Against his better judgment, Russel followed her away from the trailer. Against the voices in his head telling him not to, he told her everything he knew. Against what he’d thought of her, she listened carefully. It seemed like the years had changed her. Through their chat, Russel noticed little things that were different, like the lack of a bloodshot look in her eyes and the darker tone her skin had taken on. She was thicker than she’d been too, and stronger if the look of her biceps was anything to go off of. Overall, she really did look like a completely different person. 

 

She acted like someone else too. When he was done, she leaned back in her seat and sighed. 

 

“It’s a classic case of possession. There’s a lot of things it could be, but I’m thinkin’ a demon, considerin’ the people, or should I say  _ person _ , Stu’s been hanging around for the last twenty years. How’re his eyes?”

 

“Mostly white nowadays, but they’re usually like that when he’s not bein’ hit over the head. With  _ you know _ in jail, there ain’t anybody around anymore who’s gonna be hittin’ him all the time. He’s still actin’ weird when they’re not black, though, so it could be possession or just his real personality shining through. He  _ was _ a pretty big asshole back in the day.”

 

Paula took a thoughtful sip of her drink, then shook her head, “He was, but never as much as you’re describing. He’s always been a follower, not a leader. Even if this was really him, he’d have let someone else take over as the band’s leader, like you or that girl of yours. I’ve been talking to his mum too, she agrees that Stuart would never try to take over.”

 

“I thought his mom stopped talking to you after y’all broke up.”

 

“My mom put us back in contact a few years ago ‘cause Miss Pot wanted my vegan caramel cupcake recipe. Oh, and according to Rachael, he hasn’t been in contact with either of his parents since a little while after  _ you know _ got put away. I mean, I get him not talking to his stepmom anymore, but he’s always called his mum every other week to check on her. It ain’t like him to stop doin’ that. No, I’d say he’s possessed, probably by a demon.”

 

Russel leaned forward and raised an eyebrow, “Is there anything we can do for him? We can’t leave him like that.”

 

“Of course we can’t. He’ll probably hurt someone.”

 

“ _ And _ it’s 2D.”

 

“Yes, that too. We have to know how old the possession is first, though, so fixing this probably isn’t going to happen for a while,” Paula said with a sigh. Russel dropped his eyebrow, “We already do, it’s a few months old.”

 

He was almost insulted by the shake of her head, “That’s how  _ human _ possessions work. All other types of possession can lie dormant for weeks to years, depending on the type. If this really is a demonic possession, Stuart could’ve been possessed this entire time without any of us knowin’ it.”

 

“Does it matter how long he’s been possessed for?”

 

“If it’s longer than fifteen years, there’s nothing we can do.”

 

Russel put his head in his hands and groaned, “Oh my god, haven’t we had enough misery for one day?”

 

A hand patted his back, “I’m sure it hasn’t been that long, Russ. I mean, Murdoc’s basically an expert on this. He would’ve figured it out years ago and probably taken care of it by now.”

 

The drummer looked back up at his conversation partner. 

 

“How do you know so much about this?”

  
“My wife’s a witch,” Paula shrugged as she took another sip of her drink. Russel looked her over once again. She really  _ wasn’t _ the woman he’d helped kick out of Kong so many years ago. They wrapped up their conversation not long after. If he exchanged number with her, mumbling a promise to figure out what they needed to know, that was his business. If he felt better about the entire situation after their chat, that was his business too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Little known fact about me; I love Paula Cracker. As much as I've shown an indifference for her in my fics, I honestly am in love with her character. I want her back in the canon so badly & I know it'll never happen, but I've still got ideas for her. She's my second best girl. Also, I really dig the idea of a Paula/Russel friendship. They at least tolerated each other in the early days. What's to say they weren't decent friends before she cheated on 2D?
> 
> As always, if you liked this fic, come talk to me on Tumblr (@grlz-babe) or leave a kudos/comment! Have a great day and stay safe y'all!


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